Aging: Physical, Biological & Mental Changes in Middle Age - Essay Sample

Introduction

According to the various scientific researches, biological conditions in the body certainly happen as one continues aging. Usually, the first signs are possibly the physical appearance of an individual. After that, both the biological and mental changes of a middle-age adult begin to appear. Firstly, all the systems in the human body get affected by the morphological changes during the aging process of an individual. For instance, in the Nervous System, the total number of neurons as well as synapses in the brain which help in transmitting the information in all the parts of the nervous system reduce in the entire lifespan of an individual which in turn leads to decrease in brain mass as early as age 30 (Sheehy, et.al, 2009). Again, concerning the cardiovascular system, the amount of blood supplied in all parts of the body reduces; leading to less intake of oxygen for the muscular process, and slow pulse rate begins.

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Additionally, middle-adults begin to experience a reduction in bone mass and density: leading to a decrease in height as one gets older. While in the muscular system, strengths as well as endurance decrease. In the sensory order, there is a high rise in bone fractures, a reduction in vision, and hearing. Lastly, in the integumentary system, the middle-adult begins to experience thinning and graying hair, reduce in sweat and oil glands leading to the dryness of the skin, which makes the skin vulnerable to injuries.

Everyday Stressors to Women in Their 40s and 50s of Age

Answer: Financial insecurity, raising preschoolers, caring for elderly parents, and coping with the divorce, or death of the spouse.

Rationale: Generally, most women between the ages of the 40s and 50s suffer from a mid-life crisis, as they are striving to make survival choices of life. Usually, they suffer from several stressors, such as coping with family issues such as raising the preschoolers and dealing with the marriage, divorce or death of the spouse, money-related issues, and care for the elderly parents. For example, one of the significant stresses that affect most women in their 40s and 50s include the fear of marriage and raising the children (Griffith, 2013). Always one is regarded as a parent until that time of her demise. Hence, one has the responsibility of taking good care of their children, even in their aging periods. Women suffer from stress as they struggle to show love to their family members, especially children, and older people.

Additionally, with financial problems, women strive to feed their families. These particular stressors make women feel very desperate and vulnerable, causing health-related complications. However, career choices get stress, which only affects women between the ages of 25 and 29, as most of the women try to make choices of life for survival purposes.

Most Complex Stage of Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

According to Piaget's theory of cognitive development, children move and evolve through four basic as well as different levels of mental development. Jean Piaget's opinion does not only focuses on how the children acquire knowledge, but also focuses on understanding the intelligence nature of the children (Huitt, & Hummel, 2003). These particular levels of Piaget's theory of cognitive development include Application, comprehension, formal operations, as well as knowledge application. However, responding to Kim's situation as a teacher of the adult learners, the most complex stage of the Piaget's theory is the formal operation, since this is a stage between age 12 and above. This element is the final stage of Piaget's theory of cognitive development. Therefore, at this stage, adolescents and young adults start to think abstractly as well as to reason based on the hypothetical challenges.

Additionally, in this stage, various elements like theoretical, moral, ethical, philosophical, political, social issues, and thoughts begin to emerge, which need both conceptual and abstract thinking amongst the teens. Again at this given stage of cognitive development, teens start to apply various deductive logic, or maybe from the overall principle to the explicit information. Hence, a formal operation is essential when it comes to cognitive developments as it will help Kim in understanding the intellectual growth and development of teens. Similarly, this stage assists in investigating experimenting not only on how the teens receive knowledge but also understanding how the world operates.

Ways of Promoting Health and Preventing Frailty in Aging Adults

Answers: Maintaining a healthy weight and diet, stay active, keep regular medical appointments, and practice fall preventions.

Rationale: Promotion of the healthiest aging and prevent frailty complications in the aging adults, there is a need to adopt various practices that help in optimizing the health of an older adult to ensure that both the brain and body operate at their best capacity. Thus, the following are some of the significant ways of promoting excellent standards of the aging population:

Stay Active through Regular Exercise

Typically, regular exercise helps an aging individual to remain active by maintaining their physical strength as well as mobility. This particular practice helps in promoting the physical health status of a person by ensuring the smooth flow of blood to all parts of the body, leading to falling prevention.

Keep Regular Medical Appointments

The older people should seek regular medical assessment to ensure that they do not suffer from any health-related conditions (Morley, & Flaherty, 2002). The doctors should give them medical check-ups as this will help in identifying and treating any disease that may emerge at the aging stage.

Maintaining a Healthy Weight and Diet

The aging population should observe a healthy weight and diet at all times to prevent a high risk of suffering from obesity. Usually, obesity regarded as the critical factor of disability risk in the aging population. Therefore, reducing obesity by an approximate 6% of the total individual's weight enhances the physical and mental health of a person. Additionally, one should eat a healthy diet to avoid malnutrition and obesity, among other diseases, as this will promote health and prevent frailty among elderly persons.

Primary Factor to Consider When Assessing the Nutritional Content of Aging People

Answer: The use of canned and versus frozen produce

Nutritional assessment is a very significant aspect of health in aging persons. The ability of the aging adult to swallow any food regarded as one of the critical elements of the nutritional assessment (dos Santos Junqueira et al., 2003). Difficulty in eating any diet can lead to stroke, malnutrition, and any other health complications if tube feedings not practiced effectively. Hence, before assessing the nutrition capacity of the elderly individual, one must take into consideration whether to apply canned produce or the frozen one that will improve the ability to swallow any given food to the older people. Therefore, this is the primary Factor that Rajinder should consider before assessing the nutritional contents of the elderly population in their society.

References

Dos Santos Junqueira, J. C., Soares, E. C., Correa Filho, H. R., Hoehr, N. F., Magro, D. O., &Ueno, M. (2003). Nutritional risk factors for postoperative complications in Brazilian elderly patients undergoing major elective surgery. Nutrition, 19(4), 321-326.

Griffith, J. W. (2013). Women's stressors, according to age groups: Part I. Health Care for Women International, 4(6), 311-326.

Huitt, W., & Hummel, J. (2003). Piaget's theory of cognitive development. Educational psychology interactive, 3(2), 1-5.

Morley, J. E., & Flaherty, J. H. (2002). Editorial It's Never Too Late: Health Promotion and Illness Prevention in Older Persons. The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 57(6), M338-M342.

Sheehy, C. M., Perry, P. A., & Cromwell, S. L. (2009). Dehydration: biological considerations, age-related changes, and risk factors in older adults. Biological research for nursing, 1(1), 30-37.